2017 Ford F-150: adaptive cruise control problems

Filed Feb 4, 2026 · Transmission · IN

While I am driving in normal drive when my vehicle is in 6th gear cruising there is a shutter in the transmissionthat happens (like running over rumble strips)and only sixth gear. When I have 4 wheel drive locked in the transmission shutter happens in 3-6th gear and only happens at lower cruising rpms and trying to accelerate when I'm either using the pedal or cruise control. When I am in normal driving mode I have to leave 6th gear unselected so the rpms aren't too low to keep the transmission shutter from happening. Brought to the ford dealership and during the ride along with the tech he admitted he could feel it and could be 1 of 3 things the transmission, the torque converter or the torque converter control module. After picking my truck back up they said since I have no codes and they found a flaw in my rim. And that is what is causing the only sixth gear low rpm transmission shutter. And the shutter doesn't happen during higher rpms even at the same speeds. I have read up on this shutter and everyone was saying the same feeling in there f150s and was a transmission shutter. Don't want my transmission locking up at interstate speeds could cause losing control or causing an accident due to lock up

Filed Jul 23, 2025 · Transmission · IA

Component: 6r80 transmission lead frame Safety: Driving at 70mph on the interstate on 07/23/2025 and vehicle violently downshifted while in cruise control. Rear tires locked briefly. Driver and passenger were restrained by the seat belts or there would have been a loss of control. I was able to pull to the side of the road. Reproduced: This is the third time in a year that this has happened. Independent shop is scheduled to inspect. DTC codes P061A and P0722 are logged in the PCM. Warning Lamp: After the incident, an amber wrench icon was displayed. Still displayed after restart. Disappeared after 2nd start.

Filed Jul 18, 2025 · Transmission · MI

While driving with my cruise control at 75, the instrument cluster began to blink on and off like it was shorting out. Then the truck would suddenly downshift and search for a gear. It continued to do this until I could exit the highway. The truck aggressively downshifted multiple times quickly decelerating the vehicle. It was pretty scary.

Filed Jul 3, 2025 · Transmission · IA

This incident has occured twice. The first time, February 2025, I was driving the vehicle at approximately 55mph with Cruise Control engaged. The vehicle took itself off cruise and drop shifted to 1st gear. The rear tires skidded but I was able to pull over safely. Wrench warning on the screen. I shut off the vehicle. Restarted and the wrench icon was still present and vehicle would not shift to higher gears. Restarted again and the issue was gone. Independent service center could not find any issues or reproduce the problem. The second instance, July 1st 2025, occurred while towing a travel trailer. I was traveling at 25mph and the truck shifted to 1st and the rear tires locked briefly. The wrench icon appeared on the dash and then disappeared. It happened again just a minute or so later and then did not reoccur. Due to the low speed, no injuries occurred and control was maintained. I am certain that if this had happened at highway speed, there would have been an accident.

Filed Mar 26, 2025 · Transmission · 172,000 miles · OH

The contact owns a 2017 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving with the cruise control activated and set to 77 MPH, the transmission unexpectedly downshifted to first gear, causing the vehicle to jerk violently. The vehicle made an abnormal whistling sound, with the RPM revving high. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the contact was informed that no cause of transmission failure was found. The vehicle was not repaired and remained at the dealer. The contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 19V075000 (Power Train); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the federal safety agency Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 172,000.

Filed Mar 25, 2025 · Acceleration, Transmission · TX

Vehicle unexpectedly downshifted and service now light came on. Speed was difficult to control as the vehicle would either rapidly decelerate or accelerate. Cruise control was unable to be used. I received a speeding ticket because I was unable to consistently maintain speed. Problem returns intermittently and is usually resolved by pulling over, turning off the vehicle and turning back on.

Filed Mar 25, 2025 · Acceleration, Transmission · GA

When using the cruise control and going down hills, the transmission will unexpectedly downshift into one or more lower gears causing the rear wheels to chirp or actually slide on wet pavement. it only seems to happen when using the cruise control for some reason.

Filed Mar 24, 2025 · Transmission · TX

I was experiencing hard shifting in upper gears like 8, 9 and 10. At 118592 miles the Ford dealer told me the transmission needed to be replaced. I had them install a Ford remanufactured transmission. The dealer told me this reman should have all the upgrades of the latest transmissions. Reman number is JL3Z 7000L. At around 123000 miles I experienced the following. I had the cruise control set at 74mph. On an upgrade I felt a hard shift. I noted the transmission was in 8th gear. Then it shifted to 9th, 10th and then to 1st. The truck was suddenly slowing down for what seemed like 3 to 5 seconds before shifting into 10th. I did not hit the brakes. Cruise control was still engaged. Suddenly it repeated the shifting from 10 to 9 to 8 to 9 to 10 to 1st and then 10th. The wrench warning turn on and 10th gear was locked out. After cycling the engine off and on again I have not experienced this again. I did notice after the incident my vehicle had an oily residue on the exterior. I was traveling on a dry road with few cars around me and good tires. I did not consider it a safety concern until I read about the 6 speed transmissions experiencing this and the their safety concerns. What if someone had been behind me, what if the road had been slick, what if my tires had not been in good condition? I searched ford forums online and was surprised to find others as recently 2023 have reported exactly the same experience on 2018 F150. The fact that my transmission is supposedly what is in the 2025 concerns me. I waiting to get my truck back into Ford Service.

Filed Dec 3, 2024 · Driver assistance, Electrical · OK

I had a problem that would cause my transmission to randomly downshift or slip into neutral while in drive. When this happened it would also disengage cruise controll and would disengage the blind spot monitoring system.Took it to the dealership and they confirmed it was a faulty molded lead frame. I had them replace the part. But was doing research and saw where they have had similar recalls on previous years.

Filed Sep 30, 2024 · Transmission · GA

While driving 80 mph using cruise control on flat straight freeway, vehicle randomly would downshift from 10th gear into much lower gears, causing rapid deceleration. This happened multiple times, after transmission issues were reported to dealer and dealer "could not find any issues." Dealer eventually said new transmission was needed, replaced it, and then 30k miles later similar transmission issues are happening.

Filed Jul 1, 2024 · Driver assistance, Transmission · OK

While I was driving on the highway at 70 miles an hour with adaptive cruise control on the transmission unexpectedly down shifted gears causing me to almost crash. Once I got off the highway at a stop light the truck wouldn’t shift into first gear for ten minutes. Once it finally was able to shift gears I barely made it to my destination and the truck would not shift into reverse. Now it won’t go over 30 miles an hour because it’s unable to shift to the higher gears. My family was in the truck at the time and fortunately no one was hurt but it was too close of a call. I have the truck at a local ford dealer now and they are looking at it now but said it could cost be 6k which I cannot afford to pay. I don’t know what I am going to do. I don’t have a vehicle to drive and now I am stuck without a vehicle to drive my family around.

Filed Apr 3, 2024 · Acceleration · NC

Cruise control randomly disabled several times while traveling. This is a known issue with the Clock spring and is a significant safety issue!